Railway booster



2 Sheets-Sheet l1 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS v F'W. MARTIN RAILWAY BoosTsR FiledDec. 7, 1923 July 3, 1928.

F. w. MARTIN RAILWAY BOOSTER July 3, 1928.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed nec. v, 1925 Y www ATTORNEY 5 Patented July 3,1928.

UIN-(ILT El)` PATENT OFFICE. N

FREDERICK nrARTIN; orfmnfar'raN BEACH, NEW xoRx, NssIeNoR To FRANKLINRAILWAY surrnr COMPANY. A ooBroRArIoN or DELAWARE.

RAILWAYV BOOSTER.

Application illedillelcember 7,1923. Serial No. 679,077.

My invention. relatesA to railway boosters, my object. being to increasethe power avallablef for train propulsion-especially for startingy andat slow speeds-by utilizlng wheels orV a: locomotive tender or othersuch railway vehicle orl car for driving purposes. I aimy to do` this,by preference, withforms of.V equipment already commercially available:in other words, tol apply booster motors such as are already used. on,locomotives. to other types of rolling stock with little orno essential`alterationof either boosters or rolling stock, and vvithout,necessity`for much in.|` the way of'fspecial parts or other extra material. This,of course, is highly advantageous where it is desired to equipexistmgrolling stock with boosters, aswell asI in the case` of. new rollingstock that is to, be so equipped.- .I also provideVfor obviatmg`1nterference of, the usual relative motion of truck wheels` and` tenderwith the driving connection between booster and wheels, `preferably, ingeneral, bymountinoithe booster fast.` on; the tenderstnucture-,and-.making the `driving connections tothe wheels accommodatethe motion. This is generally a `simpler and more rugged method thantomount the booster, for. movement relative; to the tender. t w

How theseuand other objects and. advantages` can be realized through myinvention in a novelmanner-andvery simply andu expensivelye-will appearfrom 1 Inyt description hereinafter ofl a selected and,` preferredembodiment g f In the drawings, Fig.r 1 is a. somewhat` diagrammaticside view` of a locomotivetender equipped with ay booster motorV inaccordance with my invention-fthe' rear portion of` the locomotive `alsoappearing.

Fig,;`2 is a fragmentary viewat right an gles to Fig. 1, illustratingthe relationof the booster to one of the truck axles and Vto the.superjacent st rncture,withl various parts in section asindicated bythe line 2`-2 in pivoted to transverse bolsters8 whose endsv are movableup and down inthe side frames 9 and are supported by them through interposed springs 10. Beneath the tender 5,

about midway between its trucks 6, is a booster motor 11, vshown asv-ofthe two cylindersteam engine type now in common `use on locomotives.Being in the present infstance intended to drive `an axle 12 and wheels13 of each of the trucks 6, the booster 11 is preferably mountedtransverselyof the tender 5, as shown, with theappropriately constructedtop of its frame and casing structure secured` to thelowerlianges oftheV fore and aft channel members 14` of the tenden frame `7. Inflieuofthe wheel axle usually mounted inthe bearing portion 15 of the boosterframe structure, there is a shaft 16, extending `fore pand aft of thetender (since the booster extends transversely), and disconnectiblydriven by the booster engines through theV usual` gearing 17 18, 19.

From the ends of the booster motor shaft 16, there are drivingconnections 20, 20 fore and alt to the truck axles 12 directly adjaentinstance, each driving connection 20 is laterally Vflexible andlongitudinally variable in order to accommodate the relative motion ofaxle 12 and booster 11 (that is permitted `and, socket universale` 25,25,;attac "edto the `shafts ltand 23, with an interposed slipjointmember composed of telescoping parts 26 27 non-rotatively interengagcdas shownA in Fig. 2. The `bearing structures-24 are lmounted on theaxles 12, and have arms 2,8 vthat extend over the wheels 13 and engagesuitable parts of '(or' associated with)4 the byy the bolster springs10` and the pivotal.. mounting-oi thetruck), and com rises ball trucksff-the axle boxes 29, in the prent p instancef-so as toprevent turningor other displacement of the bearings 24 on the axles 12. As shown mostclearly in Figs. l and .2,l the arms 28 are preferably fastened rto theboxes 26 by bolts 31. "The bevel gears 21 face opposite ways on theirrespective axles 12, 12, so that the latter shall be driven in .the samedirection. One of these gears is close against the Wheel 13 on the sameaxle, and the other correspondingly `but reversely arranged, so as tobring the shaft 16 as far to one side ofthe tender as practicable andallow `the booster to be accommodated under the tender 5 withoutlat-eral projection therebe ond (see Fig. 2).' l

t will be seen, therefore, that the booster 11 is arranged and connectedto drivefour of the tender wheels 13 through short, eilicientconnections, which in no wiseV interfere with the relative motion ofwheels and tender due to inequalities of the track, etc. The booster 11is accessibly mounted, in such a way that it can very easily beinstalled onV `factured. Owing to the large number of wheels 13 vdriven(four) in proportion to the power of the booster 11, the factor ofadhesion required is low, and the effective starting powercorrespondingly very high.

I claim.:

1. The combination with a railway vehicle having a plurality of trucks,of a shaft vextending fore and aft thereof at ione side, wit-h drivingconnections to axles of different trucks close inside the correspondingwheels, and a booster motor at the other side of the shaft from saidwheels driving them through the shaft.

2. The combination with a railway vehicle frame having idler wheelsspring mounted for up and down movement relative thereto, of a shaftextending fore and aft at one side of the frame having flexible drivingconnections with said wheels whereby to automatically accommodaterelative motion ofwheels and vehicle frame, and a booster motor mountedon the frame at the other side from said shaft and arranged forentrainment with the latter for converting said idler wheels intodriving wheels.

V3. The combination with a railway vehicle frame and trucks thereforprovided with idler wheels, of a shaft extending fore and aft at oneside of the framehaving laterally flexible and longitudinally variabledriving connections with said wheels for automatically accommodating therelative motion of trucks and vehicle frame, and a booster motor rigidlymounted on the frame at the other side from said shaft for drivinfr thelatter and to thereby constitute said wllieels drivinfr wheels.

4. Tthe combination of a railway vehicle,

a booster thereon, drivinv connections from the booster to a truck axleincluding a fore and aft member with a bevel earthereon and a coactingbevel gear on t e axle, and a. bearing for said member mounted on saidaxle and rest-rained as 'against'displacement by means coacting forthatpurpose with the correspondinof axle box.

5. In combination with a railway vehicle, the trucks of which arerelatively movable with respect to the vehicle framev and are providedwith idler wheels, a'shaft 'extendingfore and aft of the vehicle to oneside of the longitudinal center line thereof, flexible drivingconnections between the ends of said shaft and the axles of said trucks,and a booster motor extending laterally of said shaft and being arrangedfor entrainment with said shaft whereby, when so entrained, to convertthe idler Wheels into driving wheels.

6. The combination with a railway vehicle, the trucks of which areprovided with idler wheels, of a booster mechanism arranged to supply`driving power to said idler wheels, said-mechanism including aboostermotor rigidly supported upon the frame of the vehicle and a shaftextending longitudinally of said vehicle and to one side of said motor,said shaft being arranged to be driven by said motor and being furtherflexibly geared to the axles of said idler wheels whereby to convert thelatter into driving wheels, the arrangement being such as not tointerfere with the relative movement between said trucks and frame.

7. Thev combination witha railway vehicle, the trucks of which areprovided with idler wheels relatively movable with respect to the`vehicle frame, of a boostermechanism arranged .to intermittently supply.driving power to said wheels, said mechanism including a booster motorrigidly supported upony said vehicle frame and "a shaft arranged to begeared to the axles of sai d idler wheels, the connections between saidshaft and axles bein laterally flexible and longitudinally varia le topermit relative movement between said vehicle frame and said wheels.

lIn testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

FREDERICK` W. MARTIN.

